Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Full name | Julie Caroline Dowling | |||||||||||
Nationality | Australia | |||||||||||
Born | 7 December 1959 | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Julie Caroline Van Keulen ( née Dowling), BEM [1] (born 7 December 1959) [2] is an Australian Paralympic athlete.
Born in Tasmania, Dowling had a car accident as a teenager that left her paraplegic. [2] Her first national competition was the 1981 National Para Quad Games, where she won three gold medals and broke three Australian records in javelin, shot put and discus. [2] She then competed at the 1982 FESPIC Games, where she won three gold medals at the same events, breaking a world record in the javelin. At the 1983 Stoke Mandeville Games, she won a gold medal in the javelin with yet another world record, a silver medal in the discus and a bronze medal in the shot put. [2] At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's Javelin 4 event, breaking a Paralympic record. She also finished fourth in the Women's Shot Put and Women's Discus. [3] [4] [5] [6] She retired from competition after the games. [2]
After the 1984 games, Dowling won three Mercury W.D. & H.O. Wills Star of Sport awards, a Sport Australia Award, a national Para Quad trophy for the best female athlete in international events, and a TAS TV Sportswoman of the Year Award. [2] She was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 1985 New Year Honours "for services to the physically handicapped." [1] [7] In 2005, she was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame. [2]
Personal information | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Julie Caroline Dowling | |||||||||||
Nationality | Australia | |||||||||||
Born | 7 December 1959 | |||||||||||
Medal record
|
Julie Caroline Van Keulen ( née Dowling), BEM [1] (born 7 December 1959) [2] is an Australian Paralympic athlete.
Born in Tasmania, Dowling had a car accident as a teenager that left her paraplegic. [2] Her first national competition was the 1981 National Para Quad Games, where she won three gold medals and broke three Australian records in javelin, shot put and discus. [2] She then competed at the 1982 FESPIC Games, where she won three gold medals at the same events, breaking a world record in the javelin. At the 1983 Stoke Mandeville Games, she won a gold medal in the javelin with yet another world record, a silver medal in the discus and a bronze medal in the shot put. [2] At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's Javelin 4 event, breaking a Paralympic record. She also finished fourth in the Women's Shot Put and Women's Discus. [3] [4] [5] [6] She retired from competition after the games. [2]
After the 1984 games, Dowling won three Mercury W.D. & H.O. Wills Star of Sport awards, a Sport Australia Award, a national Para Quad trophy for the best female athlete in international events, and a TAS TV Sportswoman of the Year Award. [2] She was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 1985 New Year Honours "for services to the physically handicapped." [1] [7] In 2005, she was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame. [2]